Ad-Aware (Free Antivirus & Spyware Removal) Review for Windows 7

Ad-Aware Free Antivirus is reliable utility gives you an effective protection against trojans, virus, worms and spyware. It gives you two way protection i.e protection with antivirus and anti-spyware engine. It has a friendly user interface with all its features displayed nicely to explore. Scanning process has good speed with this program but while installation, the setup kit offers to change default search engine or homepage for web browsers which should be taken care of. This software solution is embedded with features but to activate it, you need to register first. Then, it will send you an activation key in your email and you have to paste it for the activation of the program when it demands.

What is new in this Version?

Enhanced and safe browsing system that blocks malicious URLs.

It has introduced ID Watchdog Integration which provides free credit report monitoring and alerting capabilities to notify users of any critical changes to their credit report that might be an early indicator of identity theft (for US residents only).

Now there is enhanced Real-Time Protection which increases the reliability of the drives.

1. Fast and Powerful Protection Without Slowing Down your PC

Ad-Aware antivirus solution is a combination of antivirus as well as anti-spyware protection which together create a powerful package which protects you against malware, virus, spyware, trojans etc. without slowing down your system speed. Its engine is super fast which makes it easily and quickly detect deceptive malware before it attacks your computer and block it. Also, this utility uses very less system resources.

2. Identity Protection and Data Security

This feature of Ad-aware will protect your computer from various malicious sites that break into your identity and data and then misuse it. In this, there is spy site detection, advanced anti-phishing detection, site security check and identity protection services which protect your computer. Identity protection has become a major issue as everybody is using computer for their important financial and professional works. For identity protection, it is integrated with ID watchdog which notifies user if there is any critical change to his credit report.

3. Safe Browsing and Download Protection

Ad-Aware Safe Browsing protects you while you surf web. If you click on a suspicious link while browsing, it warns you immediately. It scans each URL in real time against suspected malware or phishing. It updates a list of infected sites constantly every 5-20 minutes. Ad-aware automatically scans files against malware before they are downloaded, so you can download anything with this application protection without worry.

4. Customization and Updates

You can always customize ad-aware for different modes and scans. You can either choose simple mode and forget or you can choose advanced mode and customize all the settings accordingly. You can also customize scans like quick or slow scan to optimize time and resources. It also keeps you updated against latest forms of threats with its continuous and fast updates.

5. Rootkit Removal

Rootkit is something that hides its presence or the presence of other applications like virus on your system for which it uses the lower application layer of your operating system. These malicious rootkits are very dangerous as it will not let you know if the virus or any spyware has infected your system. These rootkits can’t get detected by any simple anti-virus. This anti-virus has inbuilt anti rootkit component which scans for malicious rootkits hidden inside computer drivers or applications and doesn’t let any attacker to gain administrator level access to your computer.

6. Behavior Based Heuristics Detection

With its Behavior Based Heuristics Detection technology it not only detects known threats but also finds and blocks unknown and deceptive threats before it harms your computer. It also automatically scans external storage devices like USB drive against malware.

7. Pin-Point Scanning and Genocode Detection Technology

Pin-Point scanning technology allows you to scan a selected folder or file without having the need of scanning the whole PC. Genocode technology allows ad-aware to stay ahead of threats that have not been created yet.